Official Schiit Vali 2 Thread

[Thoven]

Just ordered a 2++ to pair with my ZMF november Aeolus! I see a lot of reviews say that the stock tube is a weakness - what would y'all suggest I replace with? This is me dipping my toe into the world of tubes for the first time, so I'm down to try a few different things to see what I like. Especially interested in any that offer a classic/quintessential "tube" sound, for comparison with my magni 3. Apologies if this gets asked 1000 times, I didn't see it in the very recent posts and I'm not crawling through 242 pages.

If there are any awesome guides or whatever on tube amps, feel free to send those along as well! I've been in the headphone game for a while, but I bought a modi/magni stack when I first started and I've not bothered with dacs/amps since. On a tight budget headphones are always the better place to spend your money. Getting into the world now because I hear tube amps and ZMF are bestest friends.

 

[treys1]

Just ordered a 2++ to pair with my ZMF november Aeolus! I see a lot of reviews say that the stock tube is a weakness - what would y'all suggest I replace with? This is me dipping my toe into the world of tubes for the first time, so I'm down to try a few different things to see what I like. Especially interested in any that offer a classic/quintessential "tube" sound, for comparison with my magni 3. Apologies if this gets asked 1000 times, I didn't see it in the very recent posts and I'm not crawling through 242 pages.

If there are any awesome guides or whatever on tube amps, feel free to send those along as well! I've been in the headphone game for a while, but I bought a modi/magni stack when I first started and I've not bothered with dacs/amps since. On a tight budget headphones are always the better place to spend your money. Getting into the world now because I hear tube amps and ZMF are bestest friends.

After trying a LOT of the variants that people try with the Vali 2++, I have found my favorites to be (in order):

1. '50s (only) Raytheon 5670
2. GE 5-Star 5670
3. RCA Command 5670
4. '50s (preferred) WE 396a

 

[jonathan c]

After trying a LOT of the variants that people try with the Vali 2++, I have found my favorites to be (in order):

1. '50s (only) Raytheon 5670
2. GE 5-Star 5670
3. RCA Command 5670
4. '50s (preferred) WE 396a

All of those are tremendous. With 5670 —> 6922 adapters (from Tube Depot), they are in Woo WA3 !!

 

[Thoven]

Just got it in, and I noticed that the tube life is about 5000 hours. That's only like 200 days. Should I be turning the amp off every time I leave the computer? Or does that time only count down when something is playing? Seems like a proper hassle to toggle the power constantly. I know replacement tubes aren't terribly expensive, but still expensive enough at 1 1/2 per year.

 

[treys1]

Just got it in, and I noticed that the tube life is about 5000 hours. That's only like 200 days. Should I be turning the amp off every time I leave the computer? Or does that time only count down when something is playing? Seems like a proper hassle to toggle the power constantly. I know replacement tubes aren't terribly expensive, but still expensive enough at 1 1/2 per year.

That would be running the amp 24/7 wouldn't it?

 

[Thoven]

That would be running the amp 24/7 wouldn't it?

That's what I'm trying to work out, whether "running" the amp means having it turned on or having active output. I'm coming from solid state and it just stayed turned on at all times, turning it on and off constantly would be a huge pain. Especially with the power switch being on the back and the unit being against a wall under my monitor.

 

[treys1]

Yeah, you're not going to want to leave that one on 24/7 IMO

 

[tafens]

Just got it in, and I noticed that the tube life is about 5000 hours. That's only like 200 days. Should I be turning the amp off every time I leave the computer? Or does that time only count down when something is playing? Seems like a proper hassle to toggle the power constantly. I know replacement tubes aren't terribly expensive, but still expensive enough at 1 1/2 per year.

5000 hours (total on-time) might not sound like a lot, but if you turn the amp off when you’re through for the day it’s less of a problem.

Say you have it in the office and turn it on when you arrive in the morning and turn it off when you leave for home (leaving it on during lunch and breaks). Say it’s on for 8 hours a day. Taking weekends, holidays and vacation into account a tube would probably last you between two and a half to three years.

If you have it at home, calculation would be different, but probably longer. For me, I calculate I would have it on four hours a day on average, tops (between work, sleep, and other family business) so roughly 3 1/2 years maybe more.

5000 isn't a hard limit either, a tube might last longer than that too, or if you're unlucky, shorter. That's life with tubes, have a spare or two on hand and you're set

 

[bcowen]

That's what I'm trying to work out, whether "running" the amp means having it turned on or having active output. I'm coming from solid state and it just stayed turned on at all times, turning it on and off constantly would be a huge pain. Especially with the power switch being on the back and the unit being against a wall under my monitor.

Any time the tube is "on" (filaments lit), electrons are boiling off the cathode coating, and the depletion of the cathode material is (mainly) what causes a tube to wear out. So on is on whether a music signal is flowing through it or not. With most tube components, turning them off when you're not listening or planning to listen is the best way to go. If the power switch is in an inconvenient location, get a switched power strip or similar that you can hopefully locate in a more convenient spot, and use the switch on it to turn the amp on and off.

That said, and as @tafens noted, the 5k hours is a rough estimate. Some may last much longer than that, and then there will be some that don't last that long. On the other end of the spectrum, the KR 300BXLS output tubes in my Jota (speaker) amp are somewhere near 20k hours with no audible signs of degradation yet. That's pretty extreme for any tube and especially a power tube, but I'm not complaining.

 

[treys1]

Like what @bcowen is mentioning with a switched power strip, I actually reached out to Schiit and asked if smart switches were ok to use and they confirmed they are. I have my bigger system on one at our cabin and it's connected to Google Home, so I can fire it up a little before I listen and let things warm up.

 

[LobalWarming]

Just got it in, and I noticed that the tube life is about 5000 hours. That's only like 200 days. Should I be turning the amp off every time I leave the computer? Or does that time only count down when something is playing? Seems like a proper hassle to toggle the power constantly. I know replacement tubes aren't terribly expensive, but still expensive enough at 1 1/2 per year.

Ummm... if you read between the plates in the Schiit manual, they don't expect you to only listen to the same tube for over a year.

Vali is meant as a thermionic gateway drug to the secret (or not so secret) pleasures of tube rolling. In the 5670/396A/2C51/6385 family alone, there's a couple decades of listening right there. Then with a few adapters and small fortune in the NOS tubes, you'll be set for multiple decades of sonic bliss - on a budget.

Despite the pleasure of hoarding collecting priceless NOS tubes (that definitely have a price), it's still better to not exhaust the thermionic goodness when the amp is unattended. Tubes are like audio koans - no jaws drop in the forest of tubes when no one is listening.

 

[jonathan c]

no jaws drop in the forest of tubes when no one is listening.

… therefore, when not on, ‘blue print’ Philips ECG 5814s don’t suck?

 

[LobalWarming]

… therefore, when not on, ‘blue print’ Philips ECG 5814s don’t suck?

That's a metaphysical conundrum that only tube yogi, @bcowen is qualified to answer... but my guess is they'd still suck. Just not as loudly.

 

[Mr Trev]

… therefore, when not on, ‘blue print’ Philips ECG 5814s don’t suck?

That's a metaphysical conundrum that only tube yogi, @bcowen is qualified to answer... but my guess is they'd still suck. Just not as loudly.

I can confirm. I have a boxed-up ECG 6922 collecting dust in a closet. Sounds better in that system than it did in my Vali

 

[eltonn97]

Hi
I just get my vali 2++ today
Without connecting to any source, I can hear hum sound on left channel only when I turn the volume up using both high gain and low gain
Is it a common problem or I should get repaired?